Harley's recall has gone.

zebidee1

Our lab, who is nearly 4 has been walked 3 times a day by someone else for a few months now. (Reasons why are not relevant.)

I took him out for the first time in a while, had him off the lead in the field as I always used to and all was fine until he saw other dogs. He took off at a rate of knots towards them and totally ignored my calls. I was mortified.

The owner of the other dogs was yelling at me that if I couldn't control my dog, he shouldn't be off the lead. (Of course she was right.:o) She seemed very intense and angry and I was a little apprehensive about her, I did wonder if she was going to kick Harley or verbally lay into me at one point. Her dogs were off lead and she seemed panicky about getting them back on lead. She was yelling at my dog in an effort to get him to stop approaching and he did thankfully. He stopped when he was about 4 feet away.

Her dogs were staffies and she was shouting that her dogs would 'have him' if I didn't get him back. She said she didn't see us in the field otherwise they wouldn't have been off lead. I didn't see her either otherwise I would have put Harley on lead when he was beside me, as I always did when other dogs came into the vicinity.

I got hold of Harley and apologised. I explained someone else had been taking him out and I had no idea his recall had gone downhill. I explained I would never have let him off if I'd known he was going to act that way. Her dog had apparently been bitten by another and she was now aggressive towards dogs as a result, which was why the woman was getting annoyed.

I left feeling very embarrassed but also a little upset as I've always been/am a responsible owner and this was something I had no clue was going to happen. She was yelling at me like I was some sort of careless teenager but I do realise she was panicking and annoyed. A horrible situation all round.

After doing some questioning, it seems Harley is like this all the time with the person who has been taking him out, they just put up with him running off. Obviously that then reinforces the idea in his head that it's ok to do it. I'm upset with them for not telling me but what's done is done and there's no point in wasting energy being annoyed, I need to just deal with the situation as it is now.

So how do I go about retraining him? He's had months of pleasing himself 3 times a day, will he even be able to go back to being obedient or will he always have the tendancy to run now?

I need to deal with this asap, can anyone advise what might be the best way to 'unlearn' this kind of behaviour? Is it just a case of back to basics and try to train the same way as you would a puppy? Or is there a different process for older (used to be good but not now) dogs?

Any advice would be welcome but please don't post just to say how awful my dog is or how bad I am. I feel bad enough as it is. I didn't know he had become like this and now I do, I want to deal with it as a matter of urgency. Any tips would be great. In the meantime he's back on the lead.

Caroline_a

I think my first question would be why do you put him on a lead as soon as other dogs are in the vicinity? Mine will go to investigate other dogs to say hello, but will come back once I call (ok, sometimes it takes a few seconds for it to register) but they have to think that being with me is more fun than being with other dogs or people. You could do what someone I know did and use a very long tracking line and keep him on that - he'll be a lot easier to grab then, plus he will suffer the embarrassment of having to be hauled back at about 12 foot away from you.

Do you walk with other friends and their dogs? I found this was the best for Oakley as we would call them all back and they would all come together.

Shepherd1

I only put mine on a lead if the dog approaching is on lead otherwise I don't. She will stay pretty close to me until we meet the other dog then will go have a sniff, if they want to play then that's what they do if not I carry on walking.

Have you tried walking the other way, mine refused to come back a couple of times while playing with another dog so instead of chasing her I walked away, as soon as she noticed she ran like a bat out of hell to get to me.

manda1205

You say that its not relevent that he has been walked by someone else for the past few months, but IMO it is relevent. I would think that he has now got it into a routine with walking with the other person, do they let him off lead at all? If not then, you need to get him back in that routine. If its been a few months since you last walked him off lead, then you need to gradually increase that again, and maybe using a training lead/treats again until he's back to where you had him before. I think dogs soon get used to routine and like children thrive on it.

zebidee1

Caroline_a wrote: »

I think my first question would be why do you put him on a lead as soon as other dogs are in the vicinity?
Do you walk with other friends and their dogs? I found this was the best for Oakley as we would call them all back and they would all come together.

A trainer told us years ago to do this as you could never be sure what the other dog would be like. Once it was obvious the other dog was friendly or the owner was ok with being approached, he could be let off to go sniff. Most owners I know that walk locally do this too. I always thought it was accepted 'good practice', it certainly seems to be the norm round these parts anyway.

He has been walked with other dogs, both much younger and still at the puppy stage so of no use in showing him how to be obedient.

Shepherd1 wrote: »

Have you tried walking the other way, mine refused to come back a couple of times while playing with another dog so instead of chasing her I walked away, as soon as she noticed she ran like a bat out of hell to get to me.

This always worked previously, within seconds. He totally ignored me this time though.

manda1205 wrote: »

You say that its not relevent that he has been walked by someone else for the past few months, but IMO it is relevent. I would think that he has now got it into a routine with walking with the other person, do they let him off lead at all? If not then, you need to get him back in that routine. If its been a few months since you last walked him off lead, then you need to gradually increase that again, and maybe using a training lead/treats again until he's back to where you had him before. I think dogs soon get used to routine and like children thrive on it.

No, I didn't say it wasn't relevant that he'd been walked by someone else, I said the reasons why he had been walked by someone else were irrelevant.

He was off the lead a lot with them and got into the habit of running off (unbeknown to me until now).

manda1205

zebidee1 wrote: »

No, I didn't say it wasn't relevant that he'd been walked by someone else, I said the reasons why he had been walked by someone else were irrelevant.

He was off the lead a lot with them and got into the habit of running off (unbeknown to me until now).

Oh I see what you mean now. As I said though, think you just need to re-train and re-install what was once there and work with the other person doing exactly the same with them too.

pulliptears

Caroline_a wrote: »

Mine will go to investigate other dogs to say hello, but will come back once I call (ok, sometimes it takes a few seconds for it to register)

If yours came to investigate mine, who is on lead at all times there is a fair chance mine would bite yours and it would be entirely your fault.

Mine is terrified of off lead dogs due to being attacked by one whilst he was on his lead years ago. There is nothing that annoys me more when I'm out than an owner who shouts "its ok he's friendly". Thats nice I reply, mine isn't please recall it now.

bagginslover

Back to basics I'm afraid. A long line will be good for him to have some freedom whilst retraining him, and will also help to reinforce the training (if he doesn't come when called, you can 'remind' him with the line).

I think whoever you had walk your dog is rather irresponsible for 1. Allowing your dog to behave this way, and 2. For not telling you they were having problems. Dogs need constant training and reinforcement, and all they have done is teach your dog it's ok to ignore a recall. I know my own dog won't recall to anyone he doesn't know well (he is on lead when out anyway, but has great recall at home) and this may be the case with yours too, but in that case he should have been kept on lead. Time to change dog walkers I think

bagginslover

Also, I think the other walker is partly to blame for the situation you found yourselves in, if she knows her dog will attack, it should be on lead at all times. I hate the 'he's friendly' brigade, as my dog will snap at other dogs too, but that's another reason I keep him on lead at all times. He's actually a very friendly dog, but when strange dogs get in his face and are rude, he tells them off

pulliptears

bagginslover wrote: »

Also, I think the other walker is partly to blame for the situation you found yourselves in, if she knows her dog will attack, it should be on lead at all times. I hate the 'he's friendly' brigade, as my dog will snap at other dogs too, but that's another reason I keep him on lead at all times. He's actually a very friendly dog, but when strange dogs get in his face and are rude, he tells them off

This is the thing, mine is NEVER off his lead. When I take him to the vets I try and keep him away from other dogs. I do my damndest to make sure he is safe and secure yet others seem to think that he's fair game for their off lead dogs.

bagginslover

I think some people just don't think but they are always the ones first to try to lay blame when something goes wrong too, it makes my blood boil!